I was mostly into Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Megadeth and early Sepultura at the time this stuff went down (due to being ~12 at this time) I did happen to buy a used CD copy of "Altars of Madness" in 94' on the strength of the cover art alone... then it was all downhill from there. I bought everything I could find with an evil looking cover and hard to read band logo.

Never cared much about the divisions between black and death metal as the 90's progressed... if I liked it, I liked it.

Not sure I agree either with the guy who mentioned the slump of '95. In terms of quality underground metal yeah it was going downhill but I don't think the audience got any smaller at this time. The shows I went to in those years in the Bay Area were all very packed or sold out even if the bands (Carcass, Death, Napalm, Deicide, Autopsy, Cannibal Corpse, Entombed) weren't doing their best albums._________________http://www.20buckspin.com

Not sure I agree either with the guy who mentioned the slump of '95. In terms of quality underground metal yeah it was going downhill but I don't think the audience got any smaller at this time.

I can surely confirm this general low of metal in the mid-90ies. An example was the completely underrated Mercyful Fate reunion, they received devastating reviews in the mainstream magazines and no one besides the die-hard-fanbase seemed to care. Nowadays kids would go nuts if a band of this calibre would reunite.

Also, during these years DYNAMO open-air was what Wacken is today (which ironically was considered "true" back then). Just have a look at that billing from 1995, it should make you throw up:

In general, people still listened to loud distorted guitar music, but it had to be without the traditional metal style, which was regarded as "outdated" or "clichée", like for example patched-vests. It was all about being "cool" and "refreshingly different" those years, the aftermath of Grunge maybe.

Not sure I agree either with the guy who mentioned the slump of '95. In terms of quality underground metal yeah it was going downhill but I don't think the audience got any smaller at this time.

I can surely confirm this general low of metal in the mid-90ies. An example was the completely underrated Mercyful Fate reunion, they received devastating reviews in the mainstream magazines and no one besides the die-hard-fanbase seemed to care. Nowadays kids would go nuts if a band of this calibre would reunite.

Also, during these years DYNAMO open-air was what Wacken is today (which ironically was considered "true" back then). Just have a look at that billing from 1995, it should make you throw up:

In general, people still listened to loud distorted guitar music, but it had to be without the traditional metal style, which was regarded as "outdated" or "clichée", like for example patched-vests. It was all about being "cool" and "refreshingly different" those years, the aftermath of Grunge maybe.

At the end of 1992 I was JUST hearing the "new" Black Metal bands after I got a tape with Sodomistic Rituals, Taog Eht Fo Htao Eht, beherit and some other shit on it. I'd leaned towards the more Satanic Death/Thrash/Speed bands before anyway but this was something really fucking nightmarish. I was young then, had just discovered the underground a year before and this new stuff just made DEICIDE (The most evil stuff I'd heard by then) sound fucking gay...killer. Gotta admit, I did become one of the "Black Metal Only" teenagers then, which was dumb in hingsight but given the atmosphere of the underground then, when it all got really polarised, I don't think I was alone. The "vibe" from that scene just felt a lot more genuine and serious and more evil than anything else. What teenage boy wouldn't think it was attractive? Today people would laugh at something like Mayhem but Europe seemed a different place back then, people were shocked by it all, maybe it was the tail end of a truly Christian Europe? Funny now looking at some of the bands I thought were ultra evil back then...today they're hilariously gay.

Perfectly sums up exactly how it was. Cheers!

Incidentally, if you were like eight years old or whatever in 1993 then there is no need for you to post on this thread.

you fucking retard. i didn't say there wasn't a slump in the scene - i debated your fucking stupid statement (below, for the 9 millionth time) that "there were VERY FEW metal fans in North America" around 1995

yeah, dipshit. they all stopped liking metal for two years and then magically came back. whatever. your statement is fucking retrarded and although i wasn't a dick about it initially, i think you deserve to be called out for it with less subtlety now.

POSER = guy who actually saw incantation on the "onward to golgotha" tour, deicide on the "legion" tour, gorguts on "the erosion of sanity" tour, was actually listening to blasphemy, bestial warlust and beherit in the mid 90s. yeah, that's me. a fucking POSER.

i guess you were too busy wringing your hands over terminology like "the dark years", whereas i was too busy going to shows, buying music and supporting the scene. you fucking self-righteous idiot.

Tormentor wrote:

nonwave wrote:

Tormentor wrote:

4) During the dark years (the huge backlash around 1995) there were VERY FEW metal fans in North America

WHAT??? are you kidding me? what information are you basing this on?

obviously you never went to milwaukee metal fest.

this is an extremely ridiculous statement. i hope i'm missing something here.

Yes you fool, I was at Milwaukee in '96 and the attendance was pretty low. I swear the attendance doubled in '97 when metal was bouncing back. And only an idiot would deny there was a big slump in '95.